


Then Came You

by oceanicflights



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, Love/Hate Relationship, Slow Burn, Tags Subject to Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-07-30 21:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20104039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oceanicflights/pseuds/oceanicflights
Summary: AU - Tina Goldstein is part of a small team sent to London to assist the Ministry of Magic in lessening a growing backlog of cases. When she unexpectedly arrives ahead of the others, she is introduced to the Scamander brothers who, with nowhere for Tina to go, must make alternative accommodations for her. As Tina becomes more acquainted with the heartbroken magizoologist Newt Scamander, she’s torn between the laws she swore to uphold and a sudden emergence of unexpected feelings.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my beta @hidetheteaspoons !

Things at the Ministry of Magic were getting hectic, to say the least. There was an overload of new cases for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and it was starting to seem as if one man was the center of it all. While they could deduct this much, Gellert Grindelwald continued to elude arrest no matter what tactics they tried. 

As if that wasn’t enough, the cherry on top was that the Department was having a staffing issue. They didn’t have enough Aurors to help with all the work that needed to get done, causing them to fall dangerously behind in some places. For a moment they had been focusing so much on stopping Grindelwald that the other cases got ignored and pushed to the side, but now those were growing in urgency and number. The simple fact of it was, they didn’t have enough manpower to keep everything orderly and as it should be. The more time that went on, the more the number of forgotten cases grew and grew. 

The Minister of Magic was furious at the backlog coming out of the Department; it made it seem as if there was a growing crime rate under his leadership that wasn’t being taken care of, or even acknowledged. Most of those working to try and resolve this had been expecting him to announce that there would be more people inducted as Aurors soon, even if only temporarily. At the very least, they expected him to announce other Ministry employees would be sent to help where they could. Nobody had been expecting to hear that MACUSA would be sending some of their Aurors to help the Ministry lessen the accumulated backlog. 

“Aurors from MACUSA’s equivalent to our Department of Magical Law Enforcement will be coming in to help assist on the absurd amount of cases that have yet to be closed,” the Minister announced one afternoon, “It's embarrassing enough that we have to have help sent in. I’ve asked they not spare too many of their people, so don’t make me have to request even more help. Get these cases closed, and fast.” While his anger had been understood, it irritated the Aurors who worked for him. 

“Does he not see how hard we’ve all been working?” one complained to Theseus Scamander, the Head Auror, “We’ve all been working nonstop these past few months. I don’t even remember the last time I had a day off! And now he’s sending Americans in to help? Did you approve of this, Scamander?”

“It goes over my head,” Theseus answered, “Though I can't deny that we do need the help. They’ll be operating under our rules, so play nice.”

“What about other Ministry employees?” another chimed in, “Like that brother of yours? Surely his department can’t be that busy. What is it, the Beasts Division? I don’t imagine it’d take that long to train him, at least for some of the simpler cases?”

Theseus shook his head, “No other department can spare people, the decision has been made.” he announced to everyone who was listening, before turning his attention to the one who had asked about his brother, “And Newt wouldn’t agree to it anyways. He’s not the Auror type.”

“He’d rather have—”

“Don’t argue about it, Travers. Like I said, the decision has been made. The MACUSA Aurors will be arriving next week, and you are expected to regard them as colleagues. I don’t want to hear complaints about anyone not being treated fairly. Understood?” A few people nodded in response, others stayed silent. “Look, the sooner we get the backlog taken care of, the sooner they leave. Think about it that way.” 

Based on the chorus of grumbles that were heard after Theseus said this, he knew that he had finally said the right thing. Work with them and they leave sooner. It was that simple. 

***

Tina Goldstein was worried. Not that she was showing it, yet it was obvious to her younger sister. 

“Teen, it’ll be okay. They aren’t gonna fire you, wouldn’t they have done it by now if they were?” Queenie tried to reason with her. “It’s been almost a month since that happened, after all.” 

“Why else would Picquery call me in for a meeting like this?” Tina replied a bit more harsh than she meant to. A month ago she had momentarily lost her self control and attacked a No-Maj who had been beating a child. Everyone around when it happened had to be obliviated, and Tina had been put on probation at work. She’d been on edge ever since, constantly trying to redeem herself. MACUSA had let her stay on as an Auror, though she was being monitored. If she could prove that going after Mary-Lou Barebone was an isolated incident, maybe they’d let her go back to work as she used to do. 

This particular morning, she had woken up to a message from the President. A meeting, yet the topic of said meeting wasn’t mentioned. Tina couldn’t help but worry she was finally being fired. Or...maybe she was being taken off her probation? As much as she hoped it was the latter, she highly doubted it. 

So, she went to work worried that morning. Was she about to be unemployed? Or demoted? Somehow, she was able to come up with a dozen ways this meeting was going to go, none of them ended well for her. Who knows, maybe Queenie was right. Maybe she was just being pessimistic, and nothing bad was about to happen. 

When she walked up to Picquery’s office, Tina was surprised to see that there were a few others also waiting outside of it. This wasn’t a personal meeting about Tina’s situation at all, it no longer seemed...was Picquery putting a team together? A team that she wanted Tina on? Maybe this meeting was something good, after all…

A few more minutes passed by with all five people standing outside the office. It seemed all were nervous about what this meeting was about, and none had a clue as to what it might be. 

After what felt like forever, they were finally called in. As they all filed into the office, Picquery stood behind her desk, not showing any hint of what was about to be said. There was a brief moment of silence before she spoke. 

“You have all heard of the rising rate of crimes causing issues for the Ministry of Magic in London,” Picquery started, “I offered the Minister some assistance, as they have their hands full dealing with a dark wizard named Grindelwald.” 

The Aurors all nodded. They had indeed heard of this—nearly every witch and wizard in New York probably had. It was all over the _New York Ghost_ recently. 

“So, I’ll be sending you five to London to assist their Magical Law Enforcement Department. While there, you’ll report to their head Auror, Theseus Scamander. Does anyone have any objections to this assignment?” 

The five Aurors all stayed silent, shocked by what they had just been told. They were being sent to England to work on cases there? 

“Madam President,” an Auror by the name Achilles Tolliver spoke up, “What about our cases here? Shouldn’t we prioritize our own?” 

“Your ongoing cases will be reassigned. None of you have a heavy workload, and we have more than enough people available to pick up what cases you still have. The Ministry, on the other hand, does not.” 

“So we have to go save the day?” another Auror said under their breath, yet everyone still heard it. 

“The Minister is a friend of mine,” Picquery looked at the Auror who spoke, “And I gladly offered help. He refused it at first, but I insisted my people would be able to help lessen their burden. Please don’t embarrass yourselves, as it will look bad on not only you, but me and all of MACUSA.”

There were a few more questions asked before the small team was dismissed. All were still in a small state of shock as the day went on. Of all the things they were expecting to come out of that meeting, being told they were being sent to London had crossed nobody’s mind. Why would it? Was the situation there really that bad? 

No matter what the situation there was, in a week’s time the five Aurors would take a Portkey to London, where they’d be assigned until further notice. While Tina hated not knowing how long she’d be gone, she did find solace in knowing that she probably wouldn’t be as heavily watched in London. Picquery had said it herself; the Ministry was lacking on personnel. They wouldn’t waste someone’s time with tracking her every move. She could finally prove that she wasn’t a risk and could handle herself in difficult situations. 

But would Queenie be okay? How would she react to this? Tina didn’t want to leave her little sister alone in New York for a long time, but...she couldn’t turn down the assignment. And for all she knew it was only going to be a few short weeks. 

On her way home, Tina picked up a new copy of the _New York Ghost_, hoping to see an article or two about what was currently happening in England. She was almost disappointed to see that there seemed to be nothing worth reporting today. 

_‘Well,’_ Tina thought as she walked up to her apartment, _‘I guess I’ll find out just how bad it is in a week...when I get sent to London.’_


	2. Chapter 2

Newt Scamander was not a fan of the thought of having to spend an entire day behind a desk, wasting away for a job. Even at a young age he knew that life wasn’t for him; he found his joy around magical creatures. Yes, he technically did work for the Ministry of Magic, but he was always much happier when he was traveling--which, thankfully, his position allowed him to do most of the time. One would very rarely see Newt Scamander in his office, one he only had for the days he had no choice but to go in to the Ministry. While he made an effort to avoid it, there were simply times that the Head of the Department of Magical Creatures had to actually be seen in his office. 

This was one of those days. He knew it was only a matter of time before he was going to have to go in, but he was hoping that he could at least avoid the few certain people he by no means wanted to see. Newt didn’t dislike his brother, in fact Theseus was one of the few family members that Newt could actually somewhat stand to be around. Despite this, running into Theseus meant more invitations to dinner, more attempts to get Newt to come into the Ministry on a set schedule, and more attempts to get him and Leta Lestrange to get along. 

Leta was the other person who Newt by no means wanted to run into. As far as he was concerned, he’d be happy with never seeing her again in his life. During his sixth year at Hogwarts, Newt had taken the blame for Leta and gotten expelled. At the time, he thought that they would end up together, yet after his expulsion she cut all ties with him. 

Newt had tried reaching out to her again and again to no avail. It wasn’t until a few short years ago he ran into her again, but this time she was on the arm of Theseus. Newt didn’t take it very well, not that he ever showed it. After Theseus and Leta had announced their engagement, Newt had decided that he would never let himself fall in love again. By no means did he still love Leta, in fact he didn’t know how he felt about her. It wasn’t hatred, but it wasn’t love. An indifference, maybe? Regardless, he kept Leta’s picture in his case where only he could see it. It was a way to remind him why he can’t fall in love. Any person he might try to pursue something with would probably just hurt him as she had done, so why bother? 

He had just sat down at his desk, giving a heavy sigh at the sight of all the paperwork that had built up since his last visit, when there was a knock at the door. 

“Newt!” Theseus exclaimed, walking in before his brother could even say ‘come in’. “I was wondering when you might show your face around here again. How’ve your travels been? I hope you’re getting all the information you need for your book,” he smiled. 

“They’ve been well, thank you,” the magizoologist quickly picked up a random piece of parchment on his desk, pretending to be busy reading it, “Can I help you with something? As you can see I’ve got quite a bit of work to catch up on…” 

“I actually wanted to let you know that next week my department will be having some...guests. Aurors from MACUSA will be arriving to help lessen our backlog. I was hoping you’d be there to greet them with us.”

Newt looked up at his brother, confused, “Why would you need me there? I’m not an Auror. I don’t help Aurors at all. Are they going to be working within my department as well?”

Theseus shook his head, “As a department head, and my brother, I’d appreciate it. We want them to know that they’re welcome here.”

“I don’t see how meeting me will make them feel welcomed.”

“Come on, Newt. It’s one day of playing nice with people. I’m sure you can handle it.”

Before Newt had a chance to respond there was another knock at the door, followed by someone walking in without permission. “Mr-uh, Auror Scamander? They’re looking for you. One of the Americans has arrived.”

The older Scamander frowned, “What? They aren’t supposed to be arriving until next week. Are you sure they’re already here?” 

“One is, sir. We got a notice minutes before she arrived that alerted us to her arrival. MACUSA seems to have changed up the plans last minute and decided not to share that information with us.”

“Tell them I’ll be there in just a minute,” Theseus looked back at his brother, “We’ll talk later? Please consider it, Newt.” 

***

It had hardly been two days since Tina had been told she’d be going to London the following week. Queenie had taken the news well enough, knowing that Tina saw this as her redeeming moment. Besides, it wasn’t as if she was moving to England, it was simply a temporary appointment. 

Tina had just gotten to work when she noticed a memo on her desk asking her to report to Picquery’s office first thing that morning. Not wasting any time, she put her stuff down and made her way back to the President's office. 

“You needed to see me?” she asked once she had been told to come in. 

“Yes. There’s been a change of plans involving your assignment to London. Instead of leaving next week, you’ll be leaving tomorrow. The rest of the team will be joining you at the original time.”

“May I ask why I’m being sent early, then?” 

“Things have gotten slightly more hectic at the Ministry, and I want to go ahead and get some help over there. I know this is last minute, but we need to get someone over there as soon as we can. I was hoping you’d be that person.”

Could she really say no? “Of course, Madam President.” 

And so it was decided. Tina was given the day to prepare for her departure, hastily trying to pack everything she would need. Queenie, while upset at the change of plans, again nodded and said she understood why Tina had to now leave so suddenly. 

It was early afternoon when a letter arrived for Tina, better detailing the new travel plan for her, yet the new plans were still somewhat vague. She would still be leaving via portkey, but it would be the following morning. There would be someone waiting to greet her in London, and they would instruct her from there. 

“Do you know where you’ll be staying?” Queenie had asked, “Surely they don’t expect you to find somewhere to stay on your own?” 

“We were told that their government would be handling our housing situation. I imagine they’ve already figured something out for me. Everything will be okay, Queenie. Picquery wouldn’t send us if she wasn’t sure of it.” she wasn’t sure that was actually true, but it sounded reassuring enough. 

That night, Tina was restless. A sudden onset of nerves kept her from sleeping, which she knew wouldn’t help her case tomorrow. As she lay in bed, she wondered why _she_ was the one who Picquery wanted to send early. It couldn’t be because she believed Tina was the best for the job. Was she that desperate to have her out of the MACUSA office? 

In the end, Tina told herself it was because she had the least amount of cases out of everyone on the small team that Picquery had made. It made enough sense; having to leave early meant that the others would suddenly have a bit more work, so you should send the person who would be leaving the least amount of work behind. 

Queenie accompanied Tina to MACUSA that morning, hugging her sister goodbye and wishing her good luck. Picquery didn’t say much to her, but rather just repeated what she had already been told about the new assignment. 

Finally, the time had come. Putting her hand on the quill that was the acting portkey, she suddenly disappeared from sight of the other Americans, and reappeared in an unfamiliar room. There was a man standing in the room, and Tina could tell he was wearing a slightly confused look. 

“You must be the American?” he asked. Tina nodded. 

“I’m an Auror sent by President Picquery.” she answered.

“Yes I was just made aware of your arrival a short while ago. I apologize we weren’t more prepared, we were under the impression you’d be getting here in a few days if I’m not mistaken. We’ve sent someone to go find Mr. Scamander for you.” 

Tina frowned. They weren’t expecting her? But Picquery had told her they were...had she lied? Her mind wandered back to the possible reasons she had been chosen to get sent early, and now it settled on a new reason. 

_‘Maybe she really did just wanted me away from MACUSA sooner.’_ Tina thought as she followed the man out of the room she had appeared in, letting herself be led to an office. Why else would the Ministry not have been expecting her? Did Picquery simply see a chance to get Tina out sooner and take it? Her mind continued to race as she entered the room she was led to. The name on the desk read Theseus Scamander. 

Was the Ministry going to be upset that she was here early? Surely not. Was this Scamander person going to be upset? That she didn’t know. While the Ministry itself couldn’t be upset in getting a bit of early help, she knew nothing about the Head Auror. All Tina could do was hope he’d be understanding of the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! Any questions come up in this chapter?   
Huge thank you to hidetheteaspoons for being my beta for this chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Tina wasn’t sure how long she had been standing in the office waiting for Theseus Scamander. She felt as if she had heard this name so much within the past couple days, yet she still didn’t have a clue who he was, really. All she knew was that he lead the Department of Magical Law Enforcement here, and that she would be reporting to him during her assignment. Finally, the door opened and someone new walked in. 

“Hello,” he said, extending his hand to Tina, “You must be from MACUSA. I’m Theseus Scamander, the Head Auror.”

“Tina Goldstein,” she responded, shaking his hand and waiting for him to continue speaking. Maybe he could shed some light on the situation? Maybe he had been told the day before that Tina would be arriving early, but had become busy and forgot to tell anyone else? 

“I must admit we weren’t expecting you today, Miss Goldstein.” he almost laughed, “This is a bit of a surprise. Can I ask who sent you today?” 

So nobody here knew she was coming, “President Picquery told me that you were told I was reporting for my assignment early. I was told yesterday that the Ministry needed an Auror to come a bit sooner than next week and I was the person she chose.” 

“I’m afraid we didn’t request anyone to be sent early, nor were we told about it. I myself only learned about this after you had already arrived.” 

Tina didn’t know what to say. She was confused, but it seemed everyone was. “Would your Minister know about it?” 

“I don’t believe he would keep it a secret if he did. Regardless, I’ll ask around and see if anybody heard anything about requesting you to come early. For now, have you been told where you’ll be staying during your time here?” 

“I was under the impression that it was already figured out by your government. In all honesty, all I was told by MACUSA was that the Ministry needed someone to come early due to some situation that was getting worse. Picquery told me that I would be further instructed on everything once I got here.” 

Theseus frowned, “I’m not sure why you would’ve been told that. I do apologize but we have still been working out living arrangements for the team we were expecting next week. Every place in the general area seems to be fully booked for some reason or another, an event of some kind is going on I believe, and it is a bit last minute…” he began mumbling the last part more to himself before speaking to Tina directly again, “I’m not sure any of the others would appreciate a sudden guest in their homes, but I’m sure that my fiancée wouldn’t be too upset if you were to stay with us tonight. Or at least until we can find a permanent housing arrangement for you.” 

Tina gave him a bit of an odd look. This man was supposed to be her boss for the next...she didn’t know how long. Something just didn’t seem right about staying at his home, even if it was possibly just for one night. “I’m not entirely sure that’d be appropriate,” she said, “Not to be rude, but it doesn’t seem…” she trailed off, not sure how to finish the statement. 

“Are your concerns staying with someone in the department? I’m afraid there’s no way you’d be able to stay with anybody else outside of it so last minute…” Theseus had a sudden thought, “Actually, there might be. We’ll check if there’s any available rooms nearby, but if not, would you have any issues residing with my little brother until there is? Unless it’s the thought of staying with a male that bothers you?” 

This didn’t sound much better to her, but did she really have a choice? Her main concern was not wanting to stay with her new boss, but would it be rude to say so? It wasn’t that she didn’t want to reside with someone in the department, it was that she didn’t want to reside with him. 

Would his little brother really be any better? If anything, it might be even more awkward for everyone. 

“Alright,” she agreed not seeing any other option. It also didn’t feel right to deny that offer and ask if she could stay with him instead. Really, nothing at the moment felt right. No matter what she said, she’d be a burden to someone. “If it’s alright with him, of course.” 

“I’ll introduce you two,” the Head Auror began to walk out of his office, motioning for her to follow, “I’m sure he’ll understand if that is the case.” 

Tina followed him out of his office, trying to look around as Theseus led her away from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She wasn’t sure she would ever need to walk this route again, but she tried to remember the path they took anyways. Maybe it would come in handy someday. 

*** 

Newt sighed as Theseus left his office. He was already mentally trying to plan a trip for the following week so he could avoid any welcome party that was being planned for the Americans coming to help the Ministry. Nobody would miss him anyways. If he went, would anybody even realize he was there? Probably not. 

He finally started going through his paperwork, some of which had been put off for quite some time. Did he really need to sit in his office and do it? Surely it wouldn’t be an issue if he just took it home with him and worked on it there...as long as it got done, right? Who was going to tell him that he couldn’t do that? He was head of his department, after all. 

Well...he did originally plan on spending the day in the office, so he might as well stay for at least a little bit longer. 

A knock on his door a few minutes later made him regret this decision. _‘I should’ve left when I first thought about it,’_ he thought as Theseus re-entered his office, this time with a woman behind him. 

“What can I do for you now, Theseus?” 

“I wanted to introduce you to--” he was cut off by someone else running up behind him.

“Auror Scamander, the Minister wants to talk with you. He said it’s urgent.” 

Theseus frowned, “Well, Miss Goldstein, I’m afraid I’ll have to miss this introduction. But please, this is my brother Newton. Fill him in on the details for me, I’ll be back when I can.” without saying another word to Newt, he walked out. 

The annoyance Newt felt was growing, yet he remained composed, “Miss Goldstein, was it? How can I help you?” 

“I’m Tina Goldstein, I was sent by MACUSA. There...seemed to have been some confusion somewhere, though.” 

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m awfully busy...can I ask what this has to do with me? I know Theseus wanted me to meet you but what did he mean by ‘fill me in on the details’? Is something being planned that I should know about?” 

“Oh, well…” Tina was reconsidering whether or not staying with the older Scamander would really be that bad. This man didn’t seem like the type that would be willing to just open up his home to a stranger...but then again, who would? “As I said there was some confusion, and I don’t have a place to stay outside of work currently. I believe Mr. Scamander was going to request that I stay at your home until I could get my permanent living assignment.” 

“He what?” Newt was confused. Had he heard her wrong? Theseus told her that she’d be staying with him? “Are there no rooms available anywhere? Why do you need to be staying with someone?” _Why me?_

“I’m not sure, all he said was that there was some event or something and everywhere would be fully booked for now.” 

An event…? There was no event going on that he knew of...no, it was most certainly that Theseus knew the Ministry wouldn’t want to pay for her to stay somewhere. Any accommodations like that such last minute, and the Ministry would probably make Theseus pay out of his own pocket. Of course he had to find somebody she could stay with. Had he been planning on doing that for _all_ the Aurors coming from America? Surely not…this had to be just because she was here earlier than scheduled. 

_‘Can I say no?’_ he sighed. He couldn’t just leave her with nowhere else to go… “Alright, Miss Goldstein, I assume it won’t be an issue for a night or two.” 

“Thank you, Mr. Scamander.” 

“Please, call me Newt.” 

“Alright. Then thank you, Newt...and please, call me Tina.” 

Newt noticed Tina glance around the office, probably unsure of what to do. “You can sit and wait here for Theseus to return, if you wish.” he offered, not knowing what else to do. He sincerely hoped that her stay with him would be a short and easy one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!   
Find me on tumblr @ newsalamandertina


	4. Chapter 4

The work day seemed to drag on, and Newt wanted nothing more than to go home. His plan to leave early was now ruined, as he now had to wait to show the visiting Auror to his flat. He couldn’t just leave her with nowhere to stay, and he had already agreed to host her for the time being. But if she was going to be at the Ministry the majority of the day, maybe it wouldn’t be that bad...at night he could simply hide away in his basement with the creatures. All he had to do was tell her she couldn’t go down there. 

Would she even want to if she knew what all creatures lived there? 

...Would it scare her out of his flat if she knew? Would she ask Theseus if she could stay somewhere else?

No, he wouldn’t use his creatures just to get him out of having to play host for a day or two. How bad could it possibly be? 

By the end of his workday, Newt sat in his office wondering how late he was going to be sitting in his office waiting for Tina. Was she going to meet him in his office? He wasn’t sure. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long for his answer on what to do. 

“Come in,” he said following a hesitant knock on his door. Sure enough, the woman from earlier stepped inside. 

“Hello,” she said, “I uh...your brother told me to come back here so you could show me...where I’ll be staying. If you’re done working, that is.” 

“Of course,” Newt said, standing up, “If you’re ready, we’ll head out for the day.” 

They walked in silence, neither knowing what to say to the other. “Thank you for letting me stay with you,” Tina finally offered, knowing it was a lousy attempt at starting a conversation. 

“Of course,” Newt said, “I’m sure you’ve been apologized to already for this, but I will again apologize for the Ministry being so unprepared.” 

“It’s alright, it seems MACUSA didn’t actually get any sort of confirmation I was supposed to come today. Or rather, they simply decided to send me without even asking first.” 

Newt nodded, “I was only told earlier today that MACUSA was sending help, but I was told that everyone would be arriving next week. Was that when you were originally supposed to arrive?” 

“Yeah, when I was first told of the assignment I was given a bit more time to prepare. I myself only found out it was changed right before it happened.” 

Another silence fell over them as they walked up to what Tina assumed what Newt’s place, noticing him pause before he opened the door to welcome her in. 

“Not to be rude,” he said, “But I do have a few rules...namely if you could stay out of the basement? I keep all my work down there, and I’m writing a book I’d rather nobody else see just yet.” That seemed like a good enough reason to keep her upstairs, and it wasn’t even a total lie. In fact, no part of it was a lie. It wasn’t the entire truth, though. 

“Of course,” Tina responded, “I don’t want to be in your way at all, and hopefully they’ll find somewhere more permanent for me to stay tomorrow.” 

“Right...well, let me show you to where you’ll be staying tonight, then.” the magizoologist said, leading her inside and up to a small bedroom, “I never really have any guests, so I do apologize I don’t have much in lieu of a guest bedroom.” 

“It’ll be perfect, thank you.” 

Tina stayed in the room he had shown her too most of the night, minus when he had awkwardly knocked on her door and asked if she wanted dinner. It was obvious that the man was not used to having others in his home. 

“So,” Tina yet again attempted to start a conversation as they ate, “You said you’re writing a book. What’s it about?” 

“Magical beasts. I typically travel quite a bit to take notes on them.” 

“Magical beasts? So...like an extermination guide?” this was the wrong thing to ask, and that became apparent very quickly. 

“No,” was the answer he huffed out, “A guide to understanding them. We need to be protecting them, not killing them. We share our world with these creatures, and I think it’s wrong that wizards take to killing them just because they don’t understand it when they first see it.” 

“But most are dangerous, are they not?” she couldn’t help herself. While she now knew Newt had a passion for magical creatures, she knew they could be incredibly hostile. Plenty of witches and wizards had been killed by them, after all. While she didn’t know the Ministry’s stance on them, MACUSA had a ban on breeding magical creatures, or anything that would involve bringing them into America. Surely Britain wasn’t so careless? 

Newt didn’t hesitate with his response, “You could say the same thing about Auror’s, could you not? Yes, there have been wizards foolish enough to get themselves killed by a beast, but Auror’s tend to answer ‘kill it’ to anything they don’t immediately understand.” 

“We do not--!” Tina wanted to argue back, but decided to just get up, “I think it might be best if I retire for the night. Thank you again for everything.” 

Newt watched her walk away, trying to calm his anger. Who was she to come into his home--which he had opened up to her--and insult his interests and career? He wondered if he shouldn’t have made the comment that he did; of course insulting her back wasn’t going to make things better. 

But he wasn’t going to apologize, not unless she did. Instead, he quickly made his way down the his basement to do one last check on all the creatures that lived down there. Knowing this would help calm him down, he made sure to take his time before making his way to his own bed. 

Maybe tomorrow after Tina got her new housing assignment, he could find an excuse to go on a long trip, away from London and everyone in it...if she even did get a new housing assignment, that was. How long was Theseus actually planning on her staying here? Surely he could find somewhere, or even just put her with another Auror. What sense did having her stay at the Head of the Department of Magical Creature’s house make? 

_‘Guess we’ll find out,’_ Newt thought as he dozed off, _‘I’m not sure I can handle a week of this, if that’s what Theseus has in mind.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait, but hopefully I can get back to updated at least once a week soon.

Newt woke up early the following morning and immediately made his way down to his creatures, as he did every morning he was home in London. He had told his assistant to stay home for the day--no need to come in to care for the creatures, he wanted to spend some time with them, anyways. 

He lost track of how long he had been in the basement when he thought he heard the door open.   
The magizoologist quickly made his way towards the basement door, wondering who could’ve possibly found their way in. Had someone broken in? Or...was it his guest? Had Tina disobeyed the only rule she had been given the night before? Surely he had misheard...or maybe Bunty had come in anyways? Newt didn’t think much of it until he heard someone scream, confirming that an unwelcome person had wandered into the menagerie. Someone who was welcomed in the basement would not have screamed--they would’ve known what to expect. 

He got his answer almost immediately, seeing Tina standing on the steps leading up to the basement door. 

“What is this?” she nearly screeched, “You said you were just writing a book down here! Not that it’s been enlarged and...made into some sort of zoo! Do you know how dangerous, and probably illegal, this is?!” 

“I said I keep my work down here. I also asked you not to come into the basement.” Newt answered as calmly as he could. Did she just not listen? 

“I...I have to report this!” 

Newt had to stop himself from sighing. He didn’t want to deal with this, all he wanted was to make sure all his creatures were fed and taken care of. “You do realize that my brother is your boss, don’t you?” he said, “My brother, who knows what I do for a living?” 

Tina was quick to respond, “I’m aware, but does he know about...about all this? You seemed to be pretty secretive about it.” 

“Well, I would trust him with that information well before I would trust you, Miss Goldstein. Especially seeing as I haven’t even known you for a full day yet. I didn’t tell you because of a reaction like the one you’re having. By the way, our laws on magical creatures are quite different than the ones you have in America. If you’re going to be staying in London you might want to make sure you know what our laws are as opposed to yours.” It sounded rude and Newt knew it, but he didn’t care at the moment. Tina wasn’t supposed to be down there anyways. “Especially if you’re supposed to be enforcing them.” 

Tina glared at him, “I don’t see how this wouldn’t be against some kind of law here. What if one of these things gets loose? What if a No-Maj hears one making some strange noise and calls their authorities-”

He interrupted her before she could continue on, which he presumed she would for ages if she could. “There are all sorts of charms in place to keep any of that from happening. I also have help that cares for them when I’m away, before you go on about that. I assure you that I’m an expert in my field and I know what I’m doing. Now, will you kindly leave?” 

Tina looked ready to continue their argument, but instead turned on her heel and stopped back up the stairs. While he hoped this was the last that he would hear of it, hear of her, he knew the chances of that were slim to none. At least he wouldn’t be going into the Ministry today. 

After a bit of time passed, he wondered if Tina knew how to get to work today. Surely she would’ve left by now, so maybe she found her way if she hasn’t asked for help. But would she have asked for help after this morning? Was that why she had wandered downstairs in the first place? Should he even care this much?

In the early afternoon an owl delivered a letter to him, and Newt wasn’t that surprised to see it was from Theseus. 

_Newt, _

_Goldstein will have to stay with you again tonight, if it isn’t too much trouble. _

_Also, she seemed very upset this morning, going on about you and beasts or something of the sort. As I’m sure I know what she’s talking about, I won’t question you about it. I will say that you need a better prevention at keeping unwanted people out, though. _

_Theseus_

Newt sighed. So she had tried to go to Theseus about his creatures, and now she had to stay another night. Just what he needed. 

Eventually, the magizoologist went to lay down in a hammock he kept up for times just like this. It was a good way to relax when stressed; a nice place to lay down and decompress, listening to the creatures wander around their enclosures. He closed his eyes, simply wanting to just listen and forget about the argument he and his house guest had earlier. 

At some point Newt had drifted off to sleep, something which did manage to happen quite often when he was home. It’s not like a small afternoon nap ever hurt anyone…

By the time he opened his eyes again, he wasn’t sure how late it was. In his menagerie, there was really no way for him to tell the actual time by looking around, and he didn’t have a watch on him at the moment. He wondered if Tina would be back yet, or if she’d even want to talk with him after what had happened that morning. 

_‘If anything, she’s probably going to want to yell at me again,’_ he sighed at this thought. Was she the type of person to spend all her free time researching whether or not what he was doing was illegal? 

A crashing noise told him that unless a niffler had gotten loose, then Tina was most definitely back. So maybe she was the type of person who would apparently go back to the basement after being told on more than one occasion now to not do that. Newt let out another sigh and got up to see what had fallen over. 

He saw Dougal standing by his desk, picking up a small stack of books that had been knocked to the ground. As soon as the demiguise saw the magizoologist, he quickly made his way over to grab Newt’s hand, leading him towards a different part of the basement. 

“Where are you taking me, Dougal?” Newt asked, confused, “Did you knock all those over?” 

The demiguise looked back at him and then forward again, pointing to the large lake-like enclosure. 

“Dougal?” Newt questioned again, scanning the lake to see if there was anything unusual about it. Had something happened to the Kelpie, or…

He saw Tina standing at the very edge of it, leaning over and peering in as if looking for something. She got down on her knees, and looked as if she were about to try and grab for something. 

“Miss Goldstein, I wouldn’t--” 

Tina whipped her head around but didn’t get back up, “Mr. Scamander!” she exclaimed, not seeing the green creature in the lake swimming towards her. 

“Miss Goldstein, I would move away right now if I were you.” Newt attempted to warn her, but she made no effort to move. She turned her head back around to the lake just in time to see the Kelpie start to rise out of the water and bite at her, successfully nipping at her hand. 

She let out a scream as she processed what was happening, a scream of both shock and pain, and Newt quickly ran over to the edge where she was. Tina tried to scramble quickly to her feet, but lost her balance and almost slipped down into the lake, where the Kelpie was still thrashing and trying to grab her again. 

Upon seeing Newt running up, the Kelpie began to calm and make its way over to its keeper, though Newt was more focused on getting Tina away from the creature now. Out of all the possible creatures she could have messed with, it just had to be the Kelpie...at least it was better than the runespoor? 

Newt grabbed Tina’s arm and stopped her from sliding into the water, pulling her away from it. “When someone tells you to step away from something, maybe you should take the advice.” he said as he walked her to the shed in the middle of the basement. 

“That...that thing is dangerous!” Tina cried out, looking at her bloodied hand, “It tried to kill me!” 

“You’re a stranger that trespassed in its territory, he was only trying to defend it. Don’t worry, the bites aren’t dangerous, I’ll heal it for you.” he said, taking the injured hand in his own to examine it, “A bit of Murtlap Essence should do the trick.” 

“Don’t touch me!” she shrieked, pulling her hand away from him, “It’s your fault this happened in the first place!” 

“Surely accepting a bit of help in healing that up won’t hurt your pride?” he hadn’t meant to sound so rude, but he was getting more irritated by the minute, “Please, it’ll only take a second.” 

Tina glared angrily at him, “Fine, but I’m still reporting this.” 

_‘Of course you are,’_ Newt thought, _‘Of course you are…’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! 
> 
> Find me on tumblr @newsalamandertina

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!  
Find me on tumblr @newsalamandertina if you want!


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